Ric Flair Retires

by Jack Windham
March 31, 2008

After losing a highly entertaining match against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24, the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair has decided to retire.

Lived Up to the Hype

The hype behind Ric Flair's match at Wrestlemania 24 against Shawn Michaels was just as good as any other match on the card.

In fact, it might have surpassed the hype of every match on the card since so many fans wanted to see it.

For weeks prior to the match, Ric Flair had been training extremely hard to make sure that the match goes well.

Sources state that he trained for this match in the very same way that he trained for his matches against Ricky Steamboat.

His Wrestlemania 24 match against Shawn Michaels wasn't anywhere near as good as his matches against Ricky Steamboat.

Then again, you'd either have to be the most optimistic Ric Flair fan or just an uninformed fan to believe that it was going to be.

Nonetheless, Ric Flair's final match was highly entertaining, and it did live up to its massive hype.

End of an Era

After watching Ric Flair wrestling for decades, wrestling fans have become accustomed to having him around.

There's a handful of wrestling fans who still have yet to fully realize how big of a moment this is.

Ric Flair's retirement is an end of an era.

One of the greatest entertainers in the history of professional wrestling will no longer be around (at least as an in-ring performer, that is).

For his legendary contributions to the business, Ric Flair deserves all the respect in the world.

Someone said it best when they said that "Ric Flair is your favorite wrestler's favorite wrestler."

Next Step

Ric Flair can either step away completely from professional wrestling and focus on one of his many other business ventures.

Or, he can choose to continue to entertain audiences by sticking around as an on-screen character for WWE.

Vince McMahon may not feel completely loyal to Ric Flair, but Triple H, Batista, and Shawn Michaels do. Those three should be able to use their clout to help ensure that Ric Flair be employed as an on-screen character.

He'd definitely be a better choice as a general manager as opposed to Vickie Guerrero or Theodore Long. Their mic skills pale in comparison to him.

William Regal has comparable mic skills, but fans wouldn't be too disappointed if Ric Flair replaced him as the general manager on Monday Night Raw.

Closing Thoughts

I personally have been watching Ric Flair for over 2 decades. A huge part of my childhood has just ended.